The latest offering in the Rebel line is a bit of a departure from the Rebels of old - it no longer uses Compact Flash memory cards. Instead, the XSi has made the switch to the smaller and lighter SD memory cards. The standard kit lens offered with the Rebel XSi is the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Image Stabilized lens: this means that the XSi has all of the top three features currently available in digital SLRs: dust control, live view and image stabilization.

The Canon 40D is the fastest consumer digital SLR you can buy. It's able to take 6.5 photos per second up to a maximum of 75 JPG images or 17 RAW. In addition to this blazing fast speed, the camera includes a completely updated 9-point autofocus, a fast image processor (to transfer photos to the memory card), Canon's dust control, and the addition of a live view mode on the camera's large 3 inch LCD screen. With a rugged frame and weather-resistant seals and gaskets, the 40D is designed for aggressive use.

Nikon D300

Release Date

November 2007

Key Features

12.3 megapixels, 51-point autofocus, dust control, live view

Uniqueness

Fastest consumer SLR

Great For

Action

Level

Advanced to semi-professional

Avg. Kit Price

$1,800

Competitors

Canon 40D, Sony DSLR-A700, Olympus E-3

If you're looking for ridiculous speed in a digital SLR camera, then look no further - the Nikon D300 is the camera for you! With its standard EN-EL3e battery the camera zips along at 6 photos per second up to a maximum of 100. If you add the optional MB-D10 battery grip, that speed increases up to 8 photos per second. This speed is paired with a new dust control system, a new live view mode, an advanced autofocus and metering system (called Scene Recognition), enhanced dynamic range (active D-lighting) and weather resistant seals.

Olympus E-410 (Least Expensive)

Release Date

June 2007

Key Features

10 megapixels, dust control, compact and light

Uniqueness

Live view

Great For

Travel

Level

Beginner

Avg. Kit Price

$465

The E-410 packs a lot of punch into its compact frame. Even though it's almost the same size as a compact digital camera, it still includes dust control and a live view LCD screen, making the transition from compact to SLR much easier.

Olympus E-510

Release Date

July 2007

Key Features

10 megapixels, dust control, compact and light

Uniqueness

Live view

Great For

Travel and low-light

Level

Intermediate to advanced

Avg. Kit Price

$544

Identical to the E-410 in many ways, the E-510 includes one important enhancement: a built-in image stabilizer. The stabilizer will work with any Olympus lens that you attach to the camera, and will help when taking photos of still subjects in low light without flash.

The E-3 is the flagship Olympus digital SLR camera, designed with professional photographers in mind. Advanced amateurs with enough pocket change will benefit from the E-3's 5 photo per second shooting speed, dust control system, built-in image stabilization, live view LCD (that flips out from the camera body and rotates), weather sealing and an ultra-fast 11-point autofocus system. New accessories for the E-3 include the HLD-4 battery grip (for longer shooting) and two new flash units (FL-50R and FL-36R) that can be activated wirelessly from the E-3's main flash.

Pentax K20D

Release Date

May 2008

Key Features

14.6 megapixels, image stabilization, dust control

Uniqueness

Most megapixels

Great For

Rugged travel

Level

Intermediate to Advanced

Avg. Kit Price

$1,300

Competitors

Canon 40D, Nikon D80

The K20D boasts one of the highest megapixel counts of the consumer-level digital SLR cameras. In addition to its dust control and built-in image stabilization, the K20D includes a live view mode (the only Pentax SLR with this feature), expanded dynamic range and an 11 point autofocus system all packaged in a weather a dust-resistant body.

Previous digital SLR cameras from Sony did not include a live view LCD screen, but the DSLR-A300 does. In addition, the LCD screen is articulated, and can be pulled out from the camera body for easy viewing when composing photos from high and low angles. The live view mode on the DSLR-A300 allows for full use of the camera's autofocus system and continuous 3 photo per second shooting mode.

The DSLR-A350 is a lot like its sibling, the DSLR-A300: it includes a new live view mode (not available on other Sony SLRs), an LCD screen that flips out from the back of the camera, built-in image stabilization, dust control and Sony's dynamic range optimization (DRO) which increases shadow detail to produce more natural-looking images. The big difference between the two cameras is in the megapixels: the A350 has 14.2 while the A300 has 10.2.